Buone Feste e Buon Natale!

Liam is one lucky guy. He has experienced a few all-American Christmases (creepy department store Santa sittings and all); he has marveled at the splendors of the Deutschalnd Weihnachten (minus the Glühwein... Mommy didn't want to share); and now, he can check "Rock the Buon Natale in Italia" off his Bucket List.

The overseas curse did strike again, as we are awaiting at least one more batch of presents for Liam, but this Christmas was spectacular. According to Zeke and me, the best Christmas ever, hands down. We are all peaceful, happy, content, and blessed. And together! Having our family nestled under one roof is a beautiful, rare treat for us, given the pace of the past 7+ years.

So what happened this Christmas? We caused some trouble at a book exchange/cookie decorating party hosted by our friends, the Kovics. We also continued with our tradition of making pasta from scratch on Christmas Eve. I prepped the pasta dough, Zeke and I rolled it out, and Zeke used the sheets to make an amazing lasagna and a crazy good batch of tortellini. I *tried* to help make the tortellini, but ultimately, I was best at the task of folding it and then passing it to Zeke to do the twisty magic. The most amazing part of it all? No cursing. No sweating. No crying. Just quick and easy, pasta-making brilliance. For those of you tracking our pasta history (and that Fruit Barton incident), you know how violent our scratch cooking can quickly turn. But since moving to Italy, every single culinary attempt has been absolute poetry -- and Christmas was no different.

Christmas morning opened with presents and breakfast, followed by an afternoon and evening with the Khalils, some of our dear friends with whom we have established another tradition: sharing food and fun on Christmas.

Liam didn't wake until close to 0930, and when he did, he had completely forgotten about Christmas, little tiny baby Jesus, Santa, presents... everything. He went straight to the kitchen for his daily bowl of oatmeal. We managed to capture on video the surprise and sheer joy of a child embracing the wonder of this blessed holiday. Enjoy! (And yes, he does say, "Is it Christmas??" after seeing Santa's bootprints throughout the room. Too perfect.)

Also, as always, here are some snapshots for you to peruse. My favorite? The explosive excitement on Liam's face when he sees that SANTA BROUGHT HIM A BAG OF SKITTLES. No joke. I mean, Liam appreciated everything he received, but that cackle and grin over a bag of Skittles? Priceless.

Buon Natale -- Merry Christmas -- and enjoy the pictures!